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Hi Everone, as anyone who has visited this show will know its vast, over 18 huge halls covering everything from mannequins to carrier bags. I’ve selected some snaps of great ideas seen on our first day mostly covering visual merchandising features and mannequins.

Saw these very striking windows in Joseph in the Brompton area in London, love the simple use of colour and the 3D globe made of acrylic sheets, the mannequin leaning on the window glass looks great too.

When it comes to trends in flooring we are definitely talking more evolution than revolution. A timber floor should after all last you a life time and a carpet or rug can serve for many, many years if looked after properly. Nonetheless flooring, being the foundation of any design scheme, needs to feel fresh, current and in keeping with the concept proposed.

At Solid Floor we have always taken great pride in having our finger on the pulse of the dynamic world of interior design and are always game to enable architects and designers to realise their clients’ dreams and ambitions. Therefore we would like to share with you our predictions for the future, as flooring is far from boring.

Can you imagine swimming in a tube station or watching theatre deep underground?

In Paris it could become a reality. The woman campaigning to be the first female mayor of the French capital has released her ideas for the city’s forgotten Metro stations.

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet has commissioned artist impressions of potential uses of the ghost stations, using the defunct Arsenal stop in the 4th arrondissement as a template to image theatres, swimming pools, restaurants and nightclubs.

If the 40-year-old wins the election in March, the woman known as NKM will invite Parisians to come up with ideas for the abandoned underground spaces.

There are 16 disused stations on Paris’s underground transport system. The majority closed when France joined the Second World War in 1939.

Five have never opened to the public: two were constructed but never used and the other three designed and built but never even connected to a Metro line.

How Retail Is Evolving In An On-Demand Economy

It’s been widely discussed that Amazon plans to enter the brick-and-mortar retail game. This is ironic because it is Amazon that put many brick-and-mortar retailers out of business in the first place. Circuit City, Borders and Blockbuster all succumbed to the dynamics of e-commerce and companies like Barnes & Noble NE +0.99%, Sears and K-Mart aren’t too far behind. Big box retailers carry fewer product lines and holding inventory presents significant risks. Consider that in the last four years, cumulative sales of brick-and-mortar retailers shrank by $30 billion and as Jeff Jordan rightly points out, “these trends are only accelerating.”

In the past, brands would have to fight for shelf space and customer access and that gave power to the larger retailers. Today, anyone with a product and a website can build their own sales channel and that is creating enormous shareholder value for the digital players. This creates a new set of challenges for brands and retailers.

On one hand, building an online-only business has cost and distribution advantages. There is no need to invest in large amounts of inventory and you aren’t subjected to retailer buying terms or expensive overhead for rent. This is a large reason why companies like Bonobos and Warby Parker experienced success early on and why many brands looked to copy the online-only model.

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The end of January sales is the time when stores consider their retail design for the New Year ahead. Once all of the seasonal displays have been cleared away and the new stock has arrived, retailers have the chance to maintain their good reputation with their customers and prove they are up to date with what the public want to see. Changing retail design frequently keeps the store fresh and exciting to customers. Read on as we take a look at some of the emerging trends in retail design and predict the future of the high street.

The Industrial Look

The industrial look for retail design has been prominent throughout London for the last year. This year, we expect to see more of this raw, unfinished aesthetic outside of the capital and on the high street. Characterised by exposed steel beams and concrete pillars, this ‘undone’ look can transform your store from a generic high street shop to a sleek urban space. Without and brightly coloured plastic and lots of MDF, your store’s merchandise really stands out. The key is to aim for a downtown Brooklyn loft rather than an abandoned warehouse. This back to basics idea is an affordable option rather than buying expensive new shop fittings, the existing ones can be stripped away for an authentic industrial look.

Interactive Retail Technology

Since the Smartphone has increased in popularity, there has been a significant rise in the number of apps available to make shopping a more enjoyable, personalised experience. Retailers heave realised that if they can connect with their potential customers individually, they are able to build a trusting bond with them quickly, likely to result in those all-important sales. Smartphone apps that allow customers to choose their preferences mean they only shown products they are interested in and will have no trouble finding what they want to buy. If it is too difficult to find an item in store, there is the threat that the customer will be lost to the competition. By providing customers with a tool to share promotions and offers, retailers can give an incentive for members of the public to choose to shop with them.

Online Retailers Move Onto the High Street

In recent years, there has been a constant battle between the high street and online stores. While many people swear by real, physical shops there are others who have discovered the convenience of shopping from the comfort of their own home. That being said, retailers who solely sell online have realised they are missing out on a wealth of potential customers and have made the move onto the high street to attract the masses. Temporary shopping solutions such as pop-up shops in busy areas allow online retailers to connect with members of the public who may not have previously known about them, therefore attracting a whole new base of interested customers. During such events, businesses have the opportunity to convince this new group of customers to shop online from them in future. We expect 2014 will see a rise in the number of online retailers on the high street this year. If you are an online retailer, consider venturing onto the high street this year to attract an array of new customers who may not know you exist!

As is the case every year, there are lots of new emerging trends in retail design. It seems the future of the high street is set to be more digital than ever! H Squared are an award winning retail design agency and specialists in digital retail design and interactive touch screen displays. We understand the constant changes in the retail world and what customers want from your store. Get in touch with us today and we can help transform your business into a store of the future.